Eternal Moon
by Hinata-chan89
Summary: AU of sorts Bella has been raised by an 'evil' step father and her caring, but hairbrained mother. She's moved to Forks, but how will her experiences be changed by her upbringing?
1. Welcome to Forks

I glanced around my mother's house one final time. No, I would not miss it. Rather I would not miss the people who lived within it. I would miss my mother terribly, my brother less and my stepfather not at all. He was the reason I was leaving. I was so sick of the hell I'd been put through, the constant fear of his anger and the possibility of pain around every corner. Renee was happy with him, so was his son. I was the proverbial third wheel in this relationship, and I needed Mom to be happy, not constantly worrying about me. She needed to be able to do what she wanted when she wanted, and right now, that entailed the entire family moving to sunny Florida, something I refused to do outright. So instead I was going to Forks, where the cloud cover and rain rarely broke to let the sun through. Yes, I would miss the sun, but I wasn't about to move clear across the country to some strange new place. I wasn't one for attention in general, at least in Forks I would blend in… kind of.

Renee drove me to the airport saying her teary eyed goodbyes. The other two hadn't even bothered to say goodbye before I left the house. Renee had met him not long after I'd turned four, and he'd been the coolest step-dad possible, until I turned nine. Then I was useful only for working and being yelled at. In short; I was the scapegoat. Going to Charlie was a last straw sort of thing, because I'd already dealt with his crap for the past twelve years, I wasn't going to leave my time-zone for him too. I waved a final time to Renee before boarding the plane. I stuck my headphones in my ears and settled in for a long flight.

Arriving in Forks, was like visiting some long forgotten dream. I did not clearly remember much from my visits to Charlie, but I remembered the dim lighting and the musty feel of the air. I was glad that I was finally away from Robert, the evil stepfather, even if it did mean living under constant rain. Renee would be happy in Florida anyways. Charlie was quiet on the ride from the airport to his house, my house now too I suppose. We'd always had an understanding with that sort of thing, emotion embarrassed us and we shied away from it in most cases, more comfortable with a slightly more distant relationship, we stayed out of each others way. When he pulled into the driveway I noticed an old faded red Ford parked near the house.

"Ch-Dad, what's with that?" I asked, pointing toward the hulking truck, he smiled at it before he responded.

"It was Billy Black's, you remember him, you used to play with his daughters when you were younger, Jacob's the only one left around the house yet, but anyways, it's your homecoming gift." He smiled at me, seemingly proud of the purchase. "Jacob's taken good care of it for his dad, and trust me, he's an amazing mechanic, I hope you like it." He looked almost nervous now.

"No, Dad, it's great." I smiled back at him, trying to look enthusiastic. "It's perfect for me too." I laughed and opened up the door, climbing out of his cruiser. Fate seemed to have a strange sense of humor, because I no more stepped out of the car than I slipped and hit the ground… hard. "Ow." I mumbled, silently glaring at the stray patch of ice that I was now sitting on. I stood up and walked around the back of the car, Charlie already had the trunk opened and one of my two suitcases out of the trunk. He looked at me sympathetically and I smiled in a silent 'I'm O.K.' I grabbed one of the suitcases and started walking toward the front porch.

I opened the door, which was unlocked, it seemed Charlie didn't worry too much about crime rates, but then, being the Chief of Police helped a lot. I walked up stairs, Charlie trailing behind me slightly, he followed me to my room, which wasn't terribly different from what it had been when I was four. He swung the suitcase he was carrying up onto my bed, shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around for a moment.

"Well, uhm, if there's anything you need, just let me know." I nodded at him, smiling a bit. Charlie really was a nice guy, he was the kind of guy people trusted, which was probably part of the reason he was the chief at the police station. I watched him walk out of my room and down the stairs, I waited for a moment and then heard the T.V. turn on downstairs, the quiet hum of the sports channel it was doubtlessly on giving me background noise. I began unpacking, shoving things into drawers and hanging things up, I pulled out the new laptop Renee had bought me for a going away present and plugged it in, setting it on the desk. I clicked the power on and went about unpacking the last of my things while waiting for it to power up. Renee had insisted that I email her everyday. I doubted that I would, but figured I should at least try, least she become frantic and start calling every few hours… or minutes. I smiled and rolled my eyes at the thought of my mother actually calling every few minutes, Charlie would go insane I was certain. I laughed slightly and plugged my cell in to charge.

Sitting down at my desk I opened up my email and noticed a new one from Renee, already. I typed up a quick response, telling her that the flight had been uneventful, Charlie had gotten me a truck (  ), and that my room was similar to what I remembered it to be. Being satisfied with my message, I clicked send and closed the laptop, sending it into standby. I wandered downstairs and started rummaging through cupboards and the refrigerator for some sort of food that would be edible. I _really_ needed to go buy food.

"Number on eon my list." I mumbled to myself, too low for Charlie to hear. I finially found some Spaghetti and sauce and pulled out a pot to boil water in for the pasta. Charlie came into the kitchen as I was heating up the sauce.

"Something smells good, Kiddo." He said smiling, pulling the nickname out of nowhere it seemed.

"Hope spaghetti's O.K." I replied, looking over my shoulder at him. He was beaming. "Renee taught you well then?" He was trying to be nice, but I just giggled a bit.

"Dad, you know she's worse at cooking than you are." He grimaced slightly at the memory of Renee's attempts at cooking. "I taught myself mostly."

"Well, it smells good, anyways." He said, the smile returning to his face.

"Well, it's almost done, if you want to pull out plates and silverware." I smiled at him and stirred the sauce again, checking and draining the noodles. I took the two plates Charlie handed me and scooped pasta onto each of them, spooning a bit of sauce on each.

We mostly ate in silence and I washed the dishes afterwards, while Charlie went back to watching T.V. I wandered back up to my room, listened to music for a while and fell asleep not much later, knowing I had school in the morning.

School at a completely new and completely strange place.

**Well, my first attempt at a Twilight FF, obviously xD; but this idea just kinda came to me as a 'what if' type scenario, but we'll see how it progresses**

**Review please :D especially if you like it ******


	2. First Day

**Back again (yay!) since I've received reviews and such (what author lives without them!?) I will be continuing this story.. I'd probably continue it even with out them, but updates probably wouldn't happen very quickly… the chocolate keeps coming off my pocky! D: …well enough of my babble, to the story**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight … darn**

I woke up around 6 the next morning, school started around 7:30, so I had plenty of time to get ready. I showered and dressed in a loose pair of jeans, a black and white guitar T, and a pair of black Chucks. Charlie was sitting at the table when I walked down stairs, he looked up from the paper he was reading, a coffee cup raised half way to his mouth, staring at me like I was some odd creature.

"Good morning, dad." I watched him for a moment, then walked to the refrigerator and rummaged for a moment, finding nothing but milk, butter, and some spoiled yogurt. I frowned at the yogurt and tossed it in the trash as I walked by it, looking through the cupboards.

"Good morning, Bella." Charlie seemed to have finally recovered from whatever state he'd been in. I opened another cupboard and found bread for toast, making a mental note to find a grocery store and stock up on food. I put the bread in the toaster and let the machine work as I organized the dishes that were sitting along the counter, it had to be a weeks worth of breakfast dishes from Charlie. "You don't have to do that, I'll clean them." I smiled at him over my shoulder.

"It's not a problem, same kinda' job I had back with mom and Robert…" Charlie frowned, he knew I'd had issues; I'd visited Charlie every year, two weeks each summer, until I'd turned four, when Robert had come into the picture, and suddenly it was wrong that I travel from Riverside, California to Forks, Washington. How Robert had ever talked Renee into moving to Riverside, I'd never know, but it had happened and even being closer to Charlie, somehow, he'd managed to keep me from my dad. Charlie's arms wrapped around me and I realized that I'd stopped moving, that'd I'd literally been lost in thought for a moment there.

"You eat and get to school." He smiled and handed me a set of keys. "The yellow key is for the front door and the red one is for the truck, you should be able to find the office fairly easily, it's small enough." He smiled then and blushed slightly. "I'm sure everyone will know who you are." I groaned at him.

"Dad!" I smiled at him though; it was just his nature to tell everyone in town that his daughter was finally coming back. I gave him a quick hug and kissed his cheek before rushing out the door, calling out a goodbye over my shoulder, toast in hand.

I drove into the lot at the school, it was fairly full, but that wasn't saying much, because the lot was pretty small. I pulled into an empty space, it was next to a silver Volvo, which also happened to be the newest looking car in the lot, how ironic, the oldest next to the newest. I parked the huge truck, it was loud too, but sturdy so I wasn't complaining, then got out and locked the doors, starting across the grass toward the school.

I walked into the front office where I met the large red head who was sitting at the front desk, she looked me over and I smiled at her.

"I'm Isabella Swan." She smiled immediately, I groaned again, inwardly this time, Charlie would have used my full name too. She began digging through the stacks of paper on her desk and eventually pulled out two sheets of paper, one was a soft blue, the other a stark pink.

"This is a map of the school, and your schedule." She held up the blue paper in reference to the map and the pink to the schedule, great, I'd be carrying around an obnoxious colored paper, proclaiming to the masses that I was new. Joy. I thanked her and left the office, heading off to find my first period class.

I found building three, which wasn't a hard task since each of the six small buildings had a large number stuck at the doors. Students were filtering into class now and I followed a pair into the classroom and walked up to the teacher, Mr. Mason, letting him know who I was, he stared for a moment before handing me a few papers and sending me to an empty seat at the back of the class. People still managed to stare at me, though a few were scolded to pay attention throughout the lesson. I looked over the reading list Mr. Mason had given me and sighed, all of them were books I'd read at least once, whether for my own sake or for school, and I'd already written essays for several of them.

The bell finally rang; an annoyingly droning sound that lasted for several seconds. I stood and started packing my things back into my bag when a boy approached me; he was gangly, for lack of a better word, in the awkward phase of a growth spurt. He had poor skin health and shiny jet black hair.

"You're Isabella Swan, right?" I inwardly sighed.

"Bella," Several people turned to stare as he asked me where my next class was. "Government, with Jefferson in building six." He was going to try to be helpful, I could tell almost immediately.

"I could show you how to get there, I'm Eric by the way." He smiled and I returned the gesture.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine." I smiled, hoping I wasn't making enemies already, I'd never been one to ask for help, and I wasn't going to suddenly start now. He smiled and rushed from the room, a blush obvious on his face, I sighed slightly, feeling kinda bad for him, I grabbed my jacket off the rack of hooks outside the door and threw it on over my bag as I walked out into the rain, which had been a barely noticeable drizzle before and was now a steady downfall.

The rest of the day wasn't much different, with a few braver-than-others people introducing themselves and asking polite questions. For the most part I listened to them and answered politely. Only my Trig teacher, Mr. Varner made me get up in front of the class to introduce myself, the class was surprisingly quiet as I stuttered and blushed my way through the introduction, and nobody laughed when I nearly face planted after tripping over my boots. A girl who was in both my Trig and Spanish classes also walked with me to lunch, she was prattling on about teachers and their classes and such, but I wasn't really paying much attention. I walked into the lunchroom, following the girl over to a table where several friends of hers sat. They looked at her, amazed, apparently at her bravery in speaking to me, she introduced them, but I quickly forgot their names. I then noticed the boy from English, waving at me from across the room.

I sat with the group, seven of them, trying to follow their conversations, until something caught my eye form across the room, as far away from me as possible. Five different but similar people, I stared intently, they weren't gawking at me, which made it that much easier to gawk at them. Three boys, one a large, hulking figure with dark curly hair, he seemed comparable to a grizzly, even as far from him as I was, the second a lithe figure, his hair was a honey like blonde, still muscled, but not nearly as bulky as the other, and the third was more lanky, easily the youngest of the three, his bronze hair looked carelessly tousled. The two girls were starkly different, one a gorgeous blond, one you would expect to see modeling swimsuits or on the covers of fashion magazines, the second was pixie like, her small figure was balanced by her extreme thinness and small features, her hair was a dark black, cropped short and spiked up slightly in all directions. Their features were extremely different, but they were all a stark white, their perfect skin was something you'd never expect to see outside of movies, magazines, or artwork.

I turned to the girl from my Spanish class and looked back to the five, where the pixie girl was rising, carrying her untouched food to a trash can before she left through the back door, my eyes flickered back to the others as I spoke.

"Who are they?" I asked. The girl looked up for a moment, at almost the exact same moment, the youngest looked at her, for the briefest moment, his eyes then flickering to mine, I looked away, but not before noticing that he'd looked away faster. The girl next to me giggled, her cheeks flushed slightly.

"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale, the one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live with Dr. Cullen and his wife." The girls name suddenly came to me; Jessica. The five all had old sounding names, though they fit and it wasn't that strange really, especially in a town like Forks.

"They're all very… model like." I struggled with a word that fit their beauty.

"Yes!" Jessica giggled again. "But they're all _together_- Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice. And they _live_ together." I glanced sidelong at Jessica and sighed, typical small minds of a small town. I stood, with my half empty tray in hand and walked toward a trash bin in the middle of the room, Jessica gawked after me along with most of her table. I walked over toward the four people; the Hales and Cullens. I sat across from them, and nearly laughed at the looks they gave me, like they were shocked that anyone would come anywhere near them.

"Hi, I'm Bella Swan, you've probably heard of me as Isabella, but I'd really prefer that you call me Bella. I just figured I'd come over here and introduce myself so as to let the annoyingly small minded people know that I don't give a damn what they think about your situation." I smiled and stood, walking out the same door Alice had left through only a few moments earlier. Jasper had stiffened, along with Edward, whose eyes had tightened slightly as I had spoken, Rosalie looked offended, and Emmett had looked amused. I made my way to my next class, which was Biology with a Mr. Banner, I waited outside the class for the bell to ring, when it did, I entered the room and went to speak with the teacher, he seemed like a mostly kind man and gave me the papers I needed to get started, telling me that there was only one opened seat and that I was lucky to be sitting next to the person with the highest grades in the class. He said this almost begrudgingly, like he was jealous of this student, he pointed out the seat and I sat, all before students had really started trickling in from their prior classes. I sat down and started reading through the papers Mr. Banner had given me, pleased to find that most of the things on his agenda were things I'd already studied to some degree back in California.

I finally looked up as someone sat beside me, I turned and was surprised to find Edward Cullen sitting next to me, he looked up at me then, seeming to glare, I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if he was angry at my sudden introduction during lunch. I smiled apologetically as I put the papers I'd been reading into my bag. He shuddered next to me, a movement barely noticeable, but something I'd learned to pick up on with Robert around, because if he started shaking in any manner, you got out of the way.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked just above a whisper, not quite looking at Edward since Mr. Banner had started a lecture on something to do with the genetic make-up of single celled organisms. Edward looked at me out of the corners of his eyes, which were pitch black, he had a hand draped lightly over his nose and I silently wondered if someone's perfume was too strong and he was feeling sick. "If you don't feel good, you should get a pass to the clinic." I smiled at him, trying to be friendly, he stared at me for a moment, and then seemed to shake himself from a state of deep thought, he raised his hand infinitesimally and Mr. Banner paused to look at him. "He's not feeling well, Mr. Banner, I think he needs to go to the clinic." Mr. Banner nodded and waved Edward out of the classroom, he shot me what I assumed was a grateful glance as he left the room, I smiled hopefully in return and returned my attention to Mr. Banner as the door shut.

**:D so how'd that? Good? Bad? Review and tell me what you think? ;) **

**Well, I was following the book for some of the dialogue there.. Don't worry, Jessica and friends are actually going to be ok with it all! :D but major twist!**

**:) well, 'till next time! Please review! :3**


	3. Painting on the Walls

I walked toward my truck, my jacket pulled tightly around me. It was now pouring down rain, I noticed that the shiny Volvo next to my truck was still parked, there was music coming form the slightly opened windows. I looked at the driver's side and realized it was Edward inside the car, he looked up and half shuddered, he rolled down the window slightly.

"Thank you, for earlier I mean." He smiled tightly at me, I didn't really understand why he seemed so tense, but I brushed it off attributing it to his not feeling well.

"No problem, really, glad to help." He smiled a bit bitterly at this; again, I had no idea why. "Well, I should get going, oh, do you know where I could buy groceries?" He smiled a bit more friendly this time.

"You should ask Eric, I'm sure he'd be happy to help." He smiled, a crooked grin at this, and seemed to be holding back a laugh as my face fell and I shrugged.

"I'll just wait until I can ask Charlie… Well, see you later." I waved as I walked away; he waved in response as he rolled his window up. I walked to my truck, not trusting myself to run, lest I slip and fall… again. I pulled the heavy door shut behind me and turned in time to see Edward's family getting into the Volvo and him pulling out of the lot, speeding away from the school. I shook my head slightly and turned the key, starting up the roaring engine of the truck and pulling carefully out of the lot, heading for home.

I'd arrived home around three, having taken my sweet time driving home, avoiding any kind of unsafe situations on the rain slicked roads. I walked up the stairs on the front porch and stopped for a moment, feeling the odd sensation of being watched, I spun around in time to see a deer dart into the trees. I sighed and walked into the small house, locking the door behind myself. I walked slowly up the stairs to my room, kicking off my shoes and socks as well as my rain soaked clothes, changing into dry ones and curling up on my bed with my books and homework, mostly assessments to make sure I didn't need any help catching up with the class. I was finished in a matter of minutes and flung myself back on my bed, gazing up at the ceiling. I frowned slightly, thinking that I should add more of my own touch to the room. I stood, pulling slippers onto my feet as I walked down stairs to grab the house phone. I called the police station, asking after Charlie. When he picked up his phone, his voice was tinged with worry.

"Is everything okay, Bella?" I smiled, touched by his worry, even if it was unwarranted.

"Yeah, Dad, everything's fine, I was just wondering if I could paint in my room some, and if you had any paint lying around that I could use?" I laughed a bit as he sighed on the other side of the line.

"Yeah, that'd be fine. There's some paint in the closet under the stairs, and brushes too, call me back if you need me to pick anything else up." I could hear the smile in his voice and couldn't help smiling in return.

"Thanks, Dad, I really appreciate it. Talk to you later."

"Yup, no problem, Kid. See you in a few hours." We both hung up at the same time, something we used to always do when I'd talk to him when I was little. I sighed in contentment and walked to the closet under the stairs, rummaging around until I'd found all the painting supplies I could. I brought them upstairs and left them outside my door as I rearranged my room, pushing my bed to the center of the room, shoving my desk and dresser up against it. I spread the old sheets I'd found with the paint around the bases of the walls, pulling in the unused plastic tarp to cover my bed and furniture. I then pulled in the paint, setting a few cans on my now protected desk. I grabbed a small can of black paint and one of the smaller brushes I'd found with it, carrying it over to the wall directly across from my bed, where a small window rested, almost perfectly centered. I stared at it for a few moments, a movement outside my window distracting me for a moment; when I didn't see anything, I dismissed it as another deer. That was something else I was going to have to get used to; all the wildlife. I laughed at my own thoughts for a moment then went back to staring at the wall, trying to plan out some sort of design for the wall. I'd never been a terribly artsy person when I was younger; I hated getting messy and especially hated using markers, but even more so when Robert had moved in, because I was always getting yelled at for 'writing on myself'. I'd started using only pencil, constantly sketching when I was overwhelmed by everything going on. I dragged the now wet brush across the wall, making a gently sloping line from the top right corner of the window to the baseboard about a yard away. I went on like this for a while, sweeping the brush one way, and then another, eventually the wall was covered in an intricate weave of lines and swirls. I then went back to my desk, re-covering the black and walking to the bathroom to rinse off the brush. I walked back into my room and grabbed an indigo shade of blue, dipping a slightly larger brush into the fairly large can and walking back to the wall. As I stared at the wall and the semi-thick lines that now covered it, I realized it almost looked like stained glass. I smiled and glanced over the design, wondering what I might be able to make out of the array of shapes. I went at painting until Charlie arrived home. He'd apparently stopped at the grocery store and picked up some pasta and sauce.

"I wasn't really sure what I should get, but I figured this shouldn't be too hard to do, the recipe's right on the back of the sauce." He smiled, holding up the jar. I smiled back at him, taking the noodles and sauce from him.

"This will work just fine, oh, and where _is_ the grocery store by the way?" Charlie smiled as he gave me the directions. I'd already pulled out a pot and started boiling water, setting the noodles beside the stove, and then finding a smaller sauce pan to heat the sauce in. Charlie had stood for a short while, watching me, then he smiled guiltily and walked into the living room, turning on the TV to some sports channel. I finished cooking and brought a plate of Spaghetti out to him, and one for myself, we sat in front of the TV together, though I wasn't really watching, he asked how my day had gone and if I'd made any friends, the typical first day of school type things. I'd told him that it was fine, and I thought I'd made a few friends. When he mentioned Mike I grimaced, causing Charlie to chortle. I fake punched him and stuck my tongue out at him. When we'd finished eating, I washed the dishes and excused myself to go finish painting. I'd left the window slightly ajar, just enough for air to escape without any rain threatening to enter. I finished coloring my array of 'stained glass' which had turned slowly into a scene of a meadow, flowers covering parts, rich green grass covering others, the half circle of open space ringed by trees that padded back to a lush, almost black green. I smiled at the work and then moved myself to the opposing wall. I stared at this wall too, trying to let some image come to me. I started with a soft blue this time and the image slowly turned into a mural of a setting sun, falling over a horizon of endless water, a rocky beach edging the water. I smiled at the work and replaced the cap on the paint, stretching as I walked toward the bathroom, rinsing out the brushes I'd used in the past few hours. It was only 8:30 and I still wanted to ass more to the room, though I wasn't really sure what at the moment. I walked back into my room, pulling the tarp off of my bed and throwing it over the paints that were resting on my desk. I pulled my laptop out of one of the drawers of my dresser and started it up. I watched the screen slowly come to life, my email opening with a pinging noise, notifying me of new messages. I glanced over the four messages, all of which were from my mother, I sighed and opened each of them. She'd updated me on her whole day, as it happened, the three of them, Renee, Robert, and his son, were driving to Florida, they'd apparently passed through Texas already, stopping several times as they drove, mostly sight seeing. I typed up a quick reply, telling her mostly the same thing I'd told Charlie and wishing her well on her trip, then sending the message and closing my email. I went searching then, through my old pictures, trying to find one I'd be happy with having on my wall. I passed a half-hour in this manner then panicked suddenly as I realized it was almost nine. I rushed to my bathroom, washing up and then running downstairs, giving Charlie a quick hug and saying a quick goodnight, I was part way up the stairs when I fell. Charlie walked up to me, a worried look on his face as tears started running down my cheeks.

"Sorry…" He stared at me, confusion evident on his face. I shook my head slightly. "Old habits…" He frowned then.

"You don't have a bed time here, Bells. That was _his_ thing, not mine. You never have to worry about that sort of thing here." His brow was furrowed now. He reached out and pulled me up, hugging me awkwardly for a moment. I squeezed him back and smiled reassuringly at him, changing the subject to get him to stop worrying.

"Do you want to see my room now?" I asked, somewhat excited at having been allowed to paint it; it was something I'd never have been able to do with Robert around. Charlie smiled and nodded, following me up the stairs and into my room.

"Wow. This is really good, Bella." I smiled; thrilled that he was pleased with it. "This is the kind of stuff people'd pay to have painted on their walls." I blushed now.

"It's not quite done… but I think I'll finish after school tomorrow, I really am tired." I smiled sheepishly and gave him a quick hug. He smiled and walked out of my room, I shut the door quietly behind him, turning and leaning against it as he left. I slid down the door, tears once more running down my face. I wrapped my arms around my legs, leaning my head against my knees. I spoke aloud, barely above a whisper. "God I hate that man… bad enough to have done this to me… but even Charlie…" I thought back to the selfish way he forced me to be in bed by nine every night, threatening me with harm if I didn't. I cringed slightly, hating that I had ever cared for Robert, hating that I'd let him hurt me, hating everything he'd ever done to me, hating everything he'd ever deemed 'wrong'. I shoved myself away form the door then, falling into bed and pulling the light switch before curling into a ball under the covers and falling into a fitful sleep. I dreamt of Edwards tight, dark eyes, watching me as I walked through the school, trying to find a classroom that simply eluded me. He seemed to be saying something, but I couldn't hear him and that only frustrated me more. I woke in the morning to a gray sky, but it wasn't raining yet. Charlie had already left for work and I ate a piece of toast for the second day in a row before walking to my truck and leaving for school.


	4. Meeting Change

I parked my truck next to an old blue Honda at school, I didn't know whose it was, and I wasn't really concerned with it either. I walked to English, where I doodled on a piece of paper, soaking up the heat form the warm room as students trickled in out of the cold outdoor air. I was staring out the window when Alice Cullen walked by, she seemed to notice my eyes on her and turned slightly to look at me. She smiled and waved at me before continuing on to her first period class, leaving me to stare at the place she'd been moments before.

I furrowed my brows and stared for a moment, until Eric appeared before me, I nearly fell out of my seat.

"Whoa, Bella, you okay there?" He laughed and I smacked his arm lightly.

"Don't sneak up on me like that." I still managed a slight laugh as he watched me, a smile cleat upon my face.

"Hey, what was up yesterday during lunch?" I rolled my eyes, blushing slightly.

"That was me, being annoyed by small minded people. You seem nice enough, so don't make the same mistake." I stared at him with one eyebrow raised. He smiled and held up his hands in mock submission.

"No problem." The bell rang and everybody hurried to their seats. The lesson was a short Romeo and Juliet refresher, not that I needed it after having read the story more than ten times already. I was finished with not only the class work, but the homework as well by the end of the period.

On my way to Second period I collided with a girl who seemed to be lost. We both apologized profusely then burst into laughter. We gathered our books and stood.

"I'm Delta. You're Bella Swan, right?" She said, sticking her hand out to shake mine. I returned the gesture and nodded in response to her question. "I saw you in lunch yesterday. Most people won't even talk to the Cullens, or the Hale twins."

"Why is that?" I felt oddly attracted to this girl's smile, which hadn't left her face since we'd run into each other. We were now walking toward second period, which it turned out we shared.

"Really it's because they're pretty distant. I think Edward's shot down almost every girl in the school, except you now." She laughed. "And me, personally he's just not for me, I'm not really sure why, but to me it's always seemed like he was waiting for someone. He's really interesting to watch actually… he just seems to look right through people, like he knows what they're thinking and it's none too impressive." She'd grown quieter as she finished speaking then stopped outside the classroom door. "Sorry, I don't talk to people much, so when I do I tend to say weird things." She blushed and I smiled at her.

"It's okay; it's not that strange, it's just the way some people look." I shivered slightly, though not enough for Delta to see. We walked in and sat down, she actually sat directly in front of me and we laughed at the coincidence. Though I must admit that I don't really believe in coincidence; everything happened for a reason. We sat through Trig mostly silent; the class wasn't quite caught up to where my class had been in Riverside. I watched Delta's back as I doodled for the rest of the period. I started suddenly, looking down to my paper and staring. It was covered in trees, the foreground focused on the slight shape of a girl, her hair hiding her face. The strangest this was the dark shadow that bloomed from her left arm, spreading to the ground and her clothing. I stared at it harder, trying to figure out who she was, and it dawned on me… at the same moment that I realized that the 'shadow' was blood.

The bell startled me from my revelation, making me jump. I looked up to Delta again and watched her as she packed her things into her backpack. I noticed now how she favored her left arm slightly. I packed my things quickly then, hiding the picture away in my bag. Delta turned and smiled at me as I zipped my bag shut. I smiled back at her and we walked outside together.

"What do you have next?" I asked her, hopeful that she might be in my history or Spanish class as well.

"I have art, then gym, lunch, history, and Spanish." I frowned slightly. "What about you?"

"History, Spanish, lunch, biology, and then gym." I stated the last with a groan. It didn't matter how much I wanted some coordination, my feet just wouldn't cooperate. While my fine motor skills were fine, I was extremely clumsy when it came to walking. Delta laughed slightly.

"I hate gym too, one of these times… I'm going to send someone to the hospital." We both laughed at this, then parted ways, he toward the art studio and me toward my history class. Both history and Spanish passed by fairly fast, and nothing of any interest happened, though Jessica wasn't glaring daggers at me or anything, so apparently she didn't hate me. Jessica and I walked to lunch together again, she was babbling on about some Mike guy who, surprisingly enough, hadn't introduced himself like half the other guys in the school. I told Jessica as much, cutting her off from saying something, and then added that he might like her. She beamed at this as we entered the lunch room. My eyes darted immediately to the table when the Cullens and the Hale twins had been sitting the day before. Rosalie and Emmett were sitting side by side, their hands laced together. Alice was sitting as Jasper's side, looking impatient, and Edward wasn't at the table. I frowned a bit and glanced around the room, nearly falling when I saw him, sitting alone with Delta.


	5. Too Much to Understand

Edward motioned toward me and she turned waving me over excitedly. I walked over, feeling my face turn red.

"Hi guys." I said, surprised that my voice wasn't utterly quivering. Mostly because of the way Edward was looking at me; his eyes were _smoldering_ and that was the only way to describe what they were doing. "What's up?" Delta laughed at my reaction and pulled me down to the seat beside her.

"You two are going to sit here and talk while I go get my lunch." She smiled happily at me and rushed away, giggling slightly. I looked at Edward who smiled at me, like he'd just heard some private joke that I wasn't in on.

"What's so funny?" I frowned at him slightly, dropping my bag to the floor. He shook his head slightly, as if I were being oblivious to something obvious.

"Nothing, it's just that, you smell like paint." I quirked an eyebrow at his statement and then rolled my eyes a bit, then smelling the sleeve of my jacket.

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." He shook his head again and smiled.

"So, I guess we're supposed to talk… Oh!" He stuck his hand out toward me suddenly. "I'm Edward Cullen, though I'm sure you've already heard my name and all that. I do appreciate your introduction yesterday and sorry for being like that in biology." I rolled my eyes, shaking his hand.

"It's not like you can help being sick… probably the stupid rain." He laughed a bit, grinning crookedly. So of course it wasn't much of a surprise when I found myself dazing off, dazzled, until he spoke again and I realized that I'd completely missed what he'd said. "Sorry, what?" I asked, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"You don't like the rain." He'd said it more as a statement than a question and I smiled stupidly.

"No, me and wet just don't mix very well." He tilted his head slightly, almost as though staring at a puzzle he couldn't solve.

"Why move to the wettest place on earth, then?" I laughed a bit myself, falling into an explanation that I was sure he'd find sufficient.

"My mom and her husband wanted to move to Florida, and I really didn't want to deal with moving clear across the country and into a new time zone." He laughed at this and I smiled back, trying to hide my cheeks as they flushed again. I looked around without being obvious; Delta was taking an awfully long time to get her food. "Besides, I've done enough for that jerk…" I added the last just under my breath, nowhere near loud enough for anyone within a foot would be able to hear with all the commotion in the lunch room, yet he frowned slightly, his brows furrowing the tiniest bit before he seemed to catch himself and smiled again, his crooked grin returning. I smiled slightly and watched, his butterscotch eyes staring back at me. I paused, catching my thoughts and my mouth fell slightly opened. "Umm… did you get contacts?" He looked at me like I was insane for a moment before he responded.

"No." He looked thoroughly confused and I started explaining, talking much too fast to hide my embarrassment.

"Well, see, yesterday, your eyes… they were really dark, but now... they're not." He frowned then, his eyes hardening again, from honey to stone in a matter of seconds. I stopped short and shut my mouth, worried that I had angered him in some manner… or worried him. "Hey, I'm sorry," I stood suddenly, pulling my bag over my shoulder. "I'll see you next period." I said before walking from the lunchroom, his eyes watching my back as I left.

Delta found me outside, sitting on a bench, nearly hyperventilating. She frantically tried to calm me, eventually succeeding. When she asked what had happened however, I just shook my head and shrugged, because I didn't really know. I had spoken to Edward Cullen, and he seemed like a decent human being, but I'd said something about his eyes, and angered him. She walked me to class when the bell rang and I sat in my seat in Mr. Banner's class, scratching shaped onto my paper as I waited for class to start.

Edward half fell into the seat next to me, throwing his books on the table before turning to me and smiling. I looked up at him out of the corner of my eye and smiled back just slightly, barely a lift in the corner of my mouth.

"So how come you ran off earlier?" I looked down at my paper as the smile left my lips.

"You were mad, or at least very upset. I didn't want to make you stay around someone who'd made you upset." I scribbled another circle on my paper and he watched, the puzzled look returning to his face.

"How can you say that with any certainty? Can you read my mind? Or maybe my emotions?" I frowned slightly, taking his comments as ridicule.

"Forget about it." I sighed slightly and scribbled a triangle on my paper.

"No, really, tell me." I looked up to find his expression to be earnest and interested, and was slightly taken aback by the sincerity of the emotion.

"Well, your eyes made it plainly obvious that you were upset." I glanced back at my paper again, and then up as Mr. Banner began speaking. Edward frowned slightly, taking a slow but deep breath as he leaned toward me.

"Tell me about your stepfather." Edward whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, though no one beyond a one foot radius around us would be able to clearly hear what he said. I frowned slightly, my eyes falling at the question, setting my mind racing. How much would I be willing to tell him, why did he care, and what would he think? Would he be the same as so many of my friends were? Laughing off my bruises and scrapes as my being clumsy, or telling me that everyone hated their parents to some degree. I glanced up at him, my doubt more than likely obvious on my face. I knew it was when his eyes betrayed his shock at the fear that was suddenly present, a fear that he wouldn't accept me, and I had no idea why I was afraid, especially since I'd basically just met him. I glanced quickly away, back to my paper again, trying to focus on Mr. Banner, who was lecturing on cell reproduction, another item we'd already covered back in Riverside. I sighed as I lost my focus on him again, returning my eyes to Edward who still looked worried. I took another deep breath before I began speaking.

"He has a son, had one when he married my mom, they married not long after Charlie and my mom divorced. Anyways, he never really liked me all that much… I was just extra baggage really, just someone to do chores and take care of his kid when he didn't want to." I trailed off, not wanting to elaborate further, but Edward pushed almost immediately.

"What aren't you saying?" He was almost fully turned toward me and Mr. Banner noticed, asking Edward suddenly for the phases of mitosis, which he listed perfectly, never moving his eyes form me. Mr. Banner looked frustrated for a moment and then went back to lecturing; our conversation still hadn't been heard. "Tell me." He spoke again, still gazing intensely at me. I dropped my eyes again, closing them now as I searched for the words.

"He used to beat me… not badly or anything… but enough that he left bruises, he'd knock me down and I'd get scrapes, and then… I felt like I deserved it, he always explained the punishments away, made me feel like I needed the punishment." I stopped again, tears beginning to well up in my eyes. I brushed fiercely at my eyes; I hated crying, absolutely hated it and it usually wasn't so easy for me to do. The bell rang then, and I rushed out of the classroom, nearly tripping several times over the ten foot distance. I could feel his eyes on my back the entire way; making my face burn with embarrassment.

I rushed to the girls' locker room then immediately into one of the bathroom stalls within. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and then left the stall, washing my face at the sink before I headed to my locker to change. Gym was hell as usual; I nearly killed half the team the one time I tried to participate, so I ended up at the back of the court and I was still there when Coach Clapp walked up to me.

"Why aren't you participating, Ms. Swan?" I shrugged slightly and one of the girls on my team piped up.

"She's going to hurt someone if she tries to play." Coach Clapp looked at me again.

"That true?" I nodded meekly, my face flushing again. "Alright, walk the gym then." I looked up at him suddenly and he frowned a bit. "Well, get going." I walked slowly away and walked the gym through the whole period, much more comfortable with doing this than even _trying_ to hit a ball of any type with _anything_. After gym I changed and when I walked out of the gym, Edward was waiting for me. I blushed and my eyes fell to the ground as I began walking toward the parking lot.

"So you're just going to walk away form me then?" I looked back at him and half smiled.

"You can walk can't you?" I waved him toward me a bit and started walking again. He followed after me and paced himself evenly with me. "Sorry about earlier." I said, not really sure what else to say.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, it wasn't your fault; I was the one prying and asking stupid questions." I shook my head at that and he looked at me out of the corner of his eye, his brow rising slightly in what I assumed was amusement.

"No, they're normal questions, anybody would be curious, and I usually don't cry so easily, so I was mostly caught off guard." He grinned crookedly again, my mind focused on his lips and I almost tripped over a crack in the cement. He reached out and easily caught me by my elbow; I tensed the slightest bit in response to this, because his hand was unusually cold even through my jacket sleeve, and I wasn't one of the warmest people myself, so it was a bit of a feat to be colder than me. He noticed my tensing and I smiled immediately in apology. "Sorry; you hit a weird nerve there." I laughed a bit and smiled at him before returning my eyes to the ground in front of me, trying not to trip again. He walked me out to my truck and then leaned against my door as the sky darkened ominously from a light grey to a near black. I frowned slightly at the sky and Edward laughed his crooked smile returning, at which I couldn't help but smile.

"What are you thinking?" I raised an eyebrow at him, noticing suddenly how he was tensed, like he was a mountain lion about to pounce.

"Like it's that hard to figure out; didn't I tell you? I don't mix well with wet… or ice." I added as I noticed a stray patch on the ground, sending a glare straight at it. He laughed stiffly and I rolled my eyes.

"Well," He glanced over at his car, where his family was beginning to gather; Rosalie looking unusually angry. "I should probably go." I half frowned in mock worry.

"Rosalie's looking particularly scary today…" I forced a smile down, failing as I broke into a grin. Edward laughed and I glanced back to Rosalie who seemed to now glare at me.

"She's just jealous." He winked and pushed away from my car, his muscles loosening as he moved away. I frowned slightly and shook my head a bit, my mind wandering to homework as I pulled carefully from my parking space then onto the road and back toward Charlie's… Home.

**--**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Twilight (… only Delta xD)**

**So anyways, it's been a while here... but that's what school does to a person; lack of time, lack of sleep, and lack of stuff in general. The last few chapters have just kinda rolled of my tongue (metaphorically speaking?) so I didn't write any kind of comments, and for clarification upon the point of Bella's drawing; yes, that was in fact Delta with blood all over her. Why? Well, you'll just have to wait and see, because the picture will come back into play again. I feel like I'm babbling... so I'll stop soon. I'm starting to work on the next chapter while I have the story line fresh in my head (and I have time), so the next chapter should be up within the next couple days or so :)**

**Reviews = Happy Me = More Writing Mojo = More Writing = Quicker Updates**

**So, you should Definitely Review :D**


	6. Coming to Conclusions

When I got home I worked on the small amount of homework I'd received, finishing it fairly quickly. Once I was done I started painting around my room again, the two remaining walls, managing to cover one with a night sky, stars and moon present, a cascading of light blues serving as the snowy looking ground, before I started working on dinner; a pizza tonight because I wasn't much in the mood for cooking. I set a timer and went back up to my room, continuing to paint, finishing the night wall before standing in front of the last remaining wall, looking at it while I tried to conjure up some image to place there, but none came. I sighed slightly and capped my paint, walking to the bathroom again to rinse the brushes out. Walking back into the room I had the strangest idea; A mountain lion and a wolf, both majestic creatures, and both the kind of creature you would expect to see blending into an autumnal scene. I laughed aloud as I realized that my four walls now contained some semblance of the four seasons; a lush spring clearing, a snowy winter night, a setting sun on the summery beach, and now the idea of a large field, two graceful predators prowling, watching, ever diligent. I smiled and set immediately to work, the time flying easily, I added some shading to the reddish brown wolf and the tan cat, smiling at the wall. I once more capped paints and rinsed brushes before pulling the tarp and the rest of the painting supplies back down to the closet under the stairs. I heard a faint beeping from my room and eeped aloud as I realized I'd forgotten about the pizza. I rushed to the kitchen and was pleased to find it hadn't burned; thank God for timers.

Charlie got home about ten minutes later; I'd just cut the pizza and put two pieces on two plates, leaving the others on the cookie sheet I'd used to cook it so it would keep them warm.

"Hey, Dad." I called out from the kitchen as he walked in, hanging his coat and gun up on the coat rack. He smiled and took a deep breath inhaling the smell of the pizza.

"Hey, kid, smells good." He smiled and sat down at the table as I put his plate in front of him. "You know, you're spoiling me; once you go off to college, I don't think I'll be able to survive." We both laughed slightly at his joke and then ate, making small talk about our day. Once we were finished with dinner, he went off to watch sports; I still wondered how they managed to always have some kind of sport show running. I laughed quietly to myself as I washed the dishes, then went back up to my room, moving my bed along my sunset wall, my desk sitting beside the window on the meadow wall. I paused at the meadow, noticing something off about it though I wasn't sure what. I had to stare a while before I realized what it was; there was a shape in the background, back amongst the furthest trees, the only actual feature I could make out on the seemingly distant figure were its bright amber eyes. I frowned at it and sighed; not remembering having painted it in, but then again, maybe my sleep talking was turning into sleep walking… and sleep painting. I laughed a bit at myself and walked away from it, giving the winter and autumn walls time to dry I put my dresser along the sunset wall as well. I pulled my laptop off my desk and booted it up, nearly busting out laughing at the number of emails in my inbox from my mom; innumerable "why won't you reply" and "what are you doing" messages in my inbox. I quickly flipped through them and replied with a general synopsis of my day, assuring her that I would send her an email every day and that she didn't need to send me so many, because I wasn't always on the computer and I'd been keeping myself very busy with school work and other random things around the house.

I sighed and checked the time; it wasn't even after 7 yet, which really surprised me. I put my laptop back up on my desk and went searching through my backpack for the picture I'd drawn earlier, of Delta in the clearing, pulling it out of my notebook, I glanced over it, realizing there was something familiar about the clearing, then glancing up and being shocked to find how closely it resembled the one on my wall. I frowned slightly, not sure why they were the same, then wondering again about the strange figure in the forest surrounding the clearing. I groaned, confused by the whole thing, then looked back to the drawing of Delta, looking at her arm for the source of all the blood, starting on her left arm, since it seemed to be the most covered. It was only then I noticed the slight lines on her left arm, and the small, thin square she seemed to be holding in her right hand. I frowned, trying to understand why I hadn't remembered drawing those in either, but then, I hadn't really been paying much attention to what I was drawing while I drew it, only letting my pencil move over the paper; letting the picture draw itself in any reality.

I let out a shaky breath as I realized just what the picture would mean; Delta cut herself, there were only the thin lines that had wounded her, and they were self inflicted. I crumpled up the paper and threw it across the room, too confused and offended by the drawing to look at it any longer. I moved to my window then, a light drizzle was falling, but there wasn't any wind, so I was able to open my window fully without getting a ton of wet in my room. I let the cold, damp air fill my lungs, clearing out the smell of paint from my nose. My room would probably smell like paint for a few days to come, if not longer. As I thought of paint, I was reminded of Edward's odd comment; that I smelled like paint, I shook my head slightly and wondered if it was really that strong of a smell. I sighed again and decided against worrying about it, since he'd been the only one to say anything.

I pulled a book out of my collection, one of the many graphic novels I'd bought for myself over the years. I started looking through it from the beginning, the pictures reminding me of the times I'd read them before, much the same way music tended to remind me of the feeling of a time passed. I fell asleep reading through it and only woke up once, at which point I changed into pajamas and climber under the covers, confused as to why it was so cold and still half asleep.

I woke up early the next morning, the sun was barely lighting the sky, and I noticed a brightness that I wasn't accustom to. Rubbing at my eyes I realized what was different; the regular mist that covered all of Forks seemed to have disappeared. I jumped up out of bed and nearly jumped right back in at the temperature of the floor; I'd left my window opened all night, and when I closed it I realized, that snow had fallen during the night, leaving a fine powdering of white fluff covering the ground. I groaned aloud at the bruises that I would doubtlessly have by the end of the day. I trudged back to my bed and fell into it again, unwilling to get up early if there was snow on the ground.

I woke again to the sound of someone knocking on my door, opening my eyes slightly I saw that it was nearly time for me to be up anyways and slowly pulled myself up out of bed. I walked to the door and opened it, smiling at Charlie's blushing face as he waited outside my door.

"Good morning, Kiddo, just wanted to make sure you wouldn't be late, I'm leaving so, don't worry about breakfast for me." He smiled and patted my shoulder awkwardly before leaving. I giggled slightly at Charlie's still present awkwardness when it came to showing affection; I was much the same in most cases, though probably not as bad as Charlie.

I left for school early, driving slowly to avoid killing myself over a patch of ice, though with the truck, I wasn't sure it'd be so easy to die. I laughed aloud at that thought, this really was the perfect vehicle for me; very sturdy and hard to damage. I pulled into the parking lot fairly early, having taken less time than I expected to get to school. I sighed, figuring time in my head and sighing again when I realized that the snow really shouldn't have fallen so early in the year.

"Just my luck, stupid snow." I sighed again, thoroughly frustrated with the cold, as I stepped out of my truck, walking around the back to start off toward the school. I stopped short, just at the rear tire facing the school, something shiny catching my eye. I knelt to check the tire, worried I'd run something over and not noticed. However there wasn't anything puncturing my tire, instead it was a small fine chain lacing, it took me a moment, but I realized Charlie must have put chains on my tires this morning, and he probably knew I'd want to leave early to get to school; thus his wake-up call this morning. I smiled, tears filling my eyes slightly, it had been so long since anybody had gone out of their way to help me. I wiped my eyes as I stood, pulling out my cell phone and calling Charlie to thank him; I got his answering machine at his desk and left a short message on it.

"Thanks for putting chains on my tires, Dad, and thanks for the wake up this morning, I really appreciate it, talk to ya' later." I flipped my phone shut and put my bag on the edge of my truck to put the phone back inside. I had just zipped it shut when I heard the squealing of tires.

My head snapped around instantly, but my body didn't react beyond that, my eyes flew to the minivan that was now hurtling toward me, the driver having lost control and everything started moving in slow motion. I looked around, noticing every pair of eyes in the lot glued to the van, then I noticed one that wasn't, one pair that was glued to me, horror painted across his face. Edward Cullen was staring at me, his mind making the connection that the van was about to hit me, but he was clear across the parking lot, and there was nothing he could do. Suddenly he was gone, not across the lot from me anymore, so my eyes fell back on the van, only a few feet away when hands gripped my waist and pulled me roughly away from my truck, toward the tailgate, just as the van made impact. My eyes widened as I realized that it was Edward who now had me in his arms, he cursed suddenly as the van managed to twist its self around my truck and came toward us again.

He turned sharply, pulling us away from the van's destructive course and sending us against the car on the opposite side of mine, the metal molding to his shape. I tried to pull my feet toward me as he was doing, but failed miserably as the van tilted and started falling toward my legs. Edward cursed again and reached out suddenly; catching the van before it landed on me, then pulling my feet from under it before setting it down... The van rocked back and forth, settling, and then I heard the screams. I groaned quietly.

"God I hate ice." Edward started laughing behind me and I looked over my shoulder at him frowning. "What? What's so funny?" He quickly calmed his face and responded.

"You just about died, and all you have to say is that you hate ice?" I stared at him for a moment, the shouting students were still hidden behind the vehicles, but they were getting closer, and fast.

"Uhm, yeah… Thanks by the way…" He rolled his eyes slightly, helping me to my feet as the first few students laid eyes on us. "How'd you get over here so fast?" I whispered as the two girls watching us started blubbering. His eyes shot to mine.

"I was standing right next to you, Bella." I frowned, readying myself to argue when I heard my name called. I shot an accusatory glance at Edward.

"You owe me an explanation later." I nearly hissed as I called out over the van. "I'm fine!" I glanced at the driver of the van to find Tyler, one of the boys Jessica had introduced me to. Someone was babbling on a cell phone, doubtlessly with an ambulance and, judging by the blood running down Tyler's face as he sat in the mostly destroyed mini van, he'd need one. People were making their way around the cars, someone shouting to get Eric out of the van, someone else shouting an inquiry about myself. Then Tyler seemed to spot me and started blubbering apologies, I rolled my eyes slightly. "I'm fine Tyler." I worked my way through the crowd of people, Edward shadowing me, like he thought I was going to fall down any second.

As soon as I made it out of the din of people, the ambulance arrived, and of course, Charlie followed close behind. Edward waved over an EMT and I glared at him. He smiled coolly and told the EMT that I'd almost been hit and that I should be checked out. I groaned and the EMT probably mistook it for a groan of pain, though I was really just annoyed. So of course Charlie started freaking out and I had to keep up a steady stream of assurances that I was fine. Yet they still made me go to the hospital, where Tyler ended up in a bed next to mine, where I sat, still fuming at Edward.

**I feel like... this is kinda short... but it really isn't, it's probably longer than most of my chapters so far but anyways, hope you enjoyed :) R&R? :DD 'cause that'd be awesome w**


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